Is’nana the Werespider is the story of Anansi the Spider’s son. Written by Greg Anderson-Elysée, the story is based on Anansi the trickster god of the Akan people of Ghana, whose stories have spread for centuries throughout Africa as well as the Caribbean. Anansi is also present in the Vodun tradition which made it’s way from West Africa to Haiti, where Anderson-Elysée hails from.

Roye Okupe has turned Kickstarter into a standard business model for his comic book series. Malika: Warrior Princess is the third major offering from YouNeek Studiosto use the platform to pay for printing and distribution. His previous graphic novels E.X.O.: The Legend of Wale Williams, Part I and Part IIalso used the platform and became so successful they have won a Glyph Award as well as distribution by Diamond in comic book stores, and Diamon also featured Malika during this year’s New Comic Book Day. I have been a fan of Okupe’s for a while so when I got the chance to read the full Malika TPB, I jumped at the chance. What makes Malika different from Okupe’s previous offerings is that instead of taking place in a futuristic version of Nigeria, this story takes place in the fictional ancient African country of Azzaz ruled by a Queen and warrior named Malika.

I saved this review specifically for Black HIsory Month because it covers a period in African history that most African-Americans are unaware of. It’s the story of Nigeria’s Atlanta ’96 Olympic Gold Medal winners Chioma Ajunwa, Kanu Nwankwo and Austin Jay Jay Okocha. The book was commissioned by the UK-based non-governmental organization Community Sport and Educational Development (CSED) program as part of their literacy program, aimed at getting young readers interested in reading through sports. The current generation of Nigerians have never seen their athletes climbing the Olympic podium and this standalone comic serves as “edutainment” of sorts.

The second volume of E.X.O. The Legend of Wale Willams dropped on August 24, 2016. This issue should be called E.X.O. “Revelations” because ALL of the questions from Volume 1 and even how the suit works are all answered in this book. Instead of releasing a series of 22 page comics, Okupe once again gives us a 152 page volume (paid for from his second successful Kickstarter) covering Chapters 8-15. Wale’s character grows in this book with the help of Fury, the mysterious woman who appeared at the end of Volume 1. (And she kicks some serious ass in this book guys seriously). We also find out what actually happened to Wale’s father and what the E.X.O. suit was originally intended for.

Next in my #AfricaRising series is a review of Sannkofamaan, written by Akinseye Brown and created by his company Sokoya Comics. A comic about an African-American quantum physicist who gains powers after a scientific experiment goes wrong. The resulting explosion gives him (and others apparently) replication powers (think Naruto “Clone Technique” but with more style), which he then uses to defend and promote justice. But this isn’t just a story about a man with mutant powers. It actually addresses political corruption, African vs African-American culture clashes as well as eco-terrorism.

Vortex Comics out of Nigeria have several properties that they are currently promoting right now and as part of my Africa Rising series I will be covering one of their titles, Mumu Juju.Mumu Juju, roughly translated means “magical foolishness” which is exactly what the protagonists Mortar and Pestle are up to in this series about two spiritual servants working off a debt to a god that sends them on various quests for magical items in the spirit world.

This review is part of my Africa Rising series highlighting African comic book companies, authors, characters and stories. Comic Republic, founded by Jide Martin in Lagos, Nigeria, is a fledgling comic book company melding African lore and spiritualism with superheroes. They have a full library of comics with both male and female superheroes that are all black and all Nigerian.

I’m starting a series here on theblerdgurl called “Africa Rising” and through it I am going to highlight several artists and comic book companies that are based in Africa, artists that are telling stories about Africa or feature African characters. To kick things off, I‘ve highlighted 7 comic book companies that are either based in Africa or headed by 1st gen African founders. Each of these companies’ work I will go into more detail about throughout the month.

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Hi! I'm the blerdgurl. I’m a comic book reading, anime watching, TV live tweeting, K-Pop listening, blog writing, geek gurl. I will be using this blog to shine a light on